Alec Baldwin, Kevin Bacon, Sigourney Weaver, Chandra Wilson to Join Neil Patrick Harris at Emmy Awards, 9/20

Alec Baldwin, Kevin Bacon, Sigourney Weaver, and Chandra Wilson are just a few of the presenters announced to join host Neil Patrick Harris at Emmy Awards on Sunday.

Additional presenters include Dana Delany, Ricky Gervais, Kate Walsh, Cat Deeley, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Tina Fey, Keifer Sutherland, Jon Hamm, Simon Baker, Blake Lively, Leighton Meester, Alyson Hannigan, Jason Segel, Stephen Moyer, and Jimmy Fallon.

It is a big year for theater vets in television. Among the nominees are: Gabriel Byrne (In Treatment), Michael C. Hall (Dexter), Glenn Close (Damages), Sally Field (Brothers & Sisters), Holly Hunter (Saving Grace), Elisabeth Moss (Mad Men), Sedgwick (The Closer), Christina Applegate (Samantha Who?), Toni Collette (The United States of Tara), Mary-Louise Parker (Weeds), Baldwin (30 Rock), Tony Shalhoub (Monk), William Hurt (Damages), Michael Emerson (Lost), John Slattery (Mad Men), Vanessa Williams (Ugly Betty), Kristin Chenoweth (Pushing Daisies), Jane Krakowski (30 Rock), Sandra Oh (Grey's Anatomy), Chandra Wilson (Grey's Anatomy), Dianne Wiest (In Treatment), Hope Davis (In Treatment), Cherry Jones (24). Kevin Kline (Cyrano de Bergerac), Sir Ian McKellen (King Lear), Kenneth Branagh (Wallander), Shirley MacLaine (Coco Chanel), Jessica Lange (Grey Gardens), Sigourney Weaver (Prayers for Bobby), Ken Howard (Grey Gardens), Len Cariou (Into the Storm), Tom Courtenay (Little Dorrit), Marcia Gay Harden (The Courageous Heart of Irena Sandla), Jeanne Tripplehorn (Grey Gardens), Janet McTeer (Into the Storm), and Cicely Tyson (Relative Stranger).

On his stint as host an producer of the 61st Annual Emmy Presentation, Patrick Harris comments:

"This may very well be the last year they're on a network show," he says of the Emmys on CBS, which he was invited to join after he got credit for the highest Tony ratings in years. "This wheel contract they have, where each year a different network gets the show, as the ratings decline it becomes less of a good thing to ‘get it.' It's a very expensive show. Which means they have to get more ad revenue. Ads are less expensive, because ratings are down. So you have to do more ads, which makes the show smaller-and inevitably, when it goes to ABC, the same thing will happen, and finally someone will do it on cable, where there won't be any commercials. Which will be a wonderful show. Our three-hour show is only two hours and five minutes long, due to economics."

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In addition to his acclaimed hosting of the Tonys, Harris has done awards show triple duty so far this year as host of the TV Land Awards and the nontelevised Writers Guild Awards ceremony in Los Angeles.

Neil Patrick Harris will be a guest judge on Fox's AMERICAN IDOL this season. The "How I Met Your Mother" star joined the judges table for the Dallas auditions. The ninth season of AMERICAN IDOL will premiere on Fox in January 2010.

Harris will also be appearing in two upcoming films; "Beastly" and "The Best and the Brightest" according to the Hollywood Reporter. The two pictures will film this summer During the summer hiatus from his CBS comedy, "How I Met Your Mother".

Emmy and Golden Globe-nominated actor, Neil Patrick Harris can currently be seen as Barney Stinson in the hit CBS comedy series, "How I Met Your Mother," a role which recently garnered him a 2009 Golden Globe nomination and two consecutive Emmy Award nominations. From his film debut opposite Whoopi Goldberg in Clara's Heart and his seminal role as the beloved titular character in "Doogie Howser, M.D.," to his recent turn in Joss Whedon's online sensation, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, Harris has enjoyed a successful career spanning more than twenty years in the industry. Among his many theatrical credits include the dual role of The Balladeer/Lee Harvey Oswald in the Tony Award-winning production of Assassins, as well as acclaimed performances in the Broadway productions of Cabaret and Proof.The Emmy® Awards recognize excellence within various areas of television and emerging media. The Emmy® Awards are administered by three sister organizations who focus on various sectors of television and broadband programming:

The Emmy Awards will air on September 20 on CBS-TV. For more information, visit www.emmys.com

Photo Credit: Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.

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